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The First Free Apple Music Trials Are Ending: Is it Worth Subscribing?

By Conner Careyon Wed, 09/30/2015

The first round of free Apple Music trials ends today, September 30. If you haven’t signed up for the trial, you can sign up via your Music app anytime; however, if you signed up for the trial, now is the time to decide whether to subscribe or turn auto renew off before your credit card is charged.

Apple recently joined the music streaming service game, and in accord with Apple’s style and attitude, Apple Music is slightly different from every other music service available. Whether that’s classic Apple innovation, or an eyeroll-inducing annoyance is entirely up to you. However, there are some clear advantages to Apple Music; especially if, like me, you never gave up on iTunes. Yet, after the three-month trial, users must decide if it's worth $9.99 a month.

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How Does Apple Music Compare?

For big Apple device and iOS users, sticking with Apple Music may make the most sense. With Apple Music you have streaming access to the enormous iTunes library without individually purchasing songs or albums. The great benefit of Apple apps, such as Music, is that all Apple's products utilize staple features. For example, Apple Music with Siri integration. Siri’s received major improvements and more capabilities, one of which now includes helping you find and discover music.

Another feature Apple is promoting are the human-curated playlists. Unlike most services, which use computers and complex algorithms to find all your music, Apple is using (get this) real, live humans. Some listeners will want to jump for joy and pay $9.99 for that feature alone, but does it really make a difference? Maybe a little. I have to admit, I’ve discovered a lot of great music because of Apple Music playlists, but I still feel this feature is more gimmick than anything.

Apple Music, like most of Apple’s apps, is intuitive to use. Which means the navigation and interface are generally easy to understand, allowing you to focus on all the great tunes the service has to offer. Indeed, the discovery capabilities are probably Apple Music’s best feature. Whether it’s the human-touch or Siri’s intelligence is hard to say, but Apple Music users seem to agree that the service is particularly good at choosing songs you don’t yet know but will love.

Apple Music also works offline (unlike Pandora) and works with your personal iTunes library to play old favorites and find new ones. What Apple Music doesn’t have is a free tier (while Pandora and Spotify do). With the exception of the Beats 1 Radio and Connect features, Apple Music is only available after the free trial when you pay the monthly fee. Apple Music is also fairly new; therefore, there are minor bugs. These will improve over time though, if you’re willing to join Apple for the adventure.

Decision Time

First things first, did you sign up for the free trial? If you did and have decided Apple Music is not a service you want to pay for, here’s our tip on how to turn off automatic renewal before your credit card is charged at the end of the free trial.

If you haven’t tried Apple Music, you can easily start a three-month free trial by opening Settings and tapping Music. Make sure Show Apple Music is on, then select Join Apple Music. Upon starting your trial, you’ll be asked to Choose a Plan, either Individual or Family. From there, Apple Music will learn a little about your music preferences and set up your profile.

Perhaps you’ve turned off auto-renewal but still want to subscribe when your trial ends. To do this, open your Music app and select the profile icon in the top, left corner. Your Account menu will come up, tap View Apple ID. Enter your password. Scroll down to Subscriptions and tap Manage. From here, you can select a renewal option, which will begin and which you will be charged for at the end of your trial period.

What are your feelings on Apple Music? Do you think Apple Music can out do Spotify’s success? Tell us in the comments!

Top Image Credit: d8nn / Shutterstock.com

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Conner Carey holds a bachelor's in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and resides in Fairfield, Iowa. When she's not writing, you can find her singing jazz or lifting weights. Her personal blog is currently under construction, but you can follow her on Instagram @connerleecarey.

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